I even had New Home cams that would not fit my New Home machine. I started collecting orphan cams at one time, but when I had about a dozen sets of cams and half a dozen cam machines, and none of the cams matched any of my machines, I gave up. I even try to keep a couple around to sell so they don't need to find, clean, and adjust one in the wild.Īs for cams, I don't think you will find a set unless you happen to come across an identical machine in a thrift shop with all its accessories. Whenever anyone asks me for an expensive machine to actually use for sewing, I point them toward a 1960s Japanese machine. They certainly offer the best value - thrift shops and local auctions sell perfectly good japanese machines from $5 to $35. Next to Necchis, I feel that post WWII Japanese machines offer the highest quality machine to the sewist.

This might be a good niche for a collector on a limited budget – they could collect all pink machines or one machine of each color. They can be found at many thrift shops for $10-$20 and at local auctions for under $5. The Japanese machines have not caught on with collectors (even the ones made in Occupied Japan) and as a result retain very little value.

If it says 'Singer' on the machine, it probably is. Examples have been found in metallic blue, green, pink, yellow, and I have a Fire Engine Red one! In terms of collectability, don't be fooled by a claim of 'an extremely rare' Mitsubishi, Ford, Saxon, Stitch Queen etc., the same machine could have dozens of different names. The post war machines are generally well made, often quieter and smoother running than the Singers they were copied from! Japan also gave us many of our colored sewing machines. I've tracked Department Stores, Machines with Automobile names, female names, patriotic names etc. Any retailer so inclined could have Sewing Machines made just for him or her (Sears Kenmore, Wards Signature).

To further complicate matters, large retailers would purchase machines and have the company name on them: RH Macy, Gimbals, etc. Generally speaking, a machine will, somewhere, state 'made in Japan' or have 'JA- ' stamped into the bottom of the machine. Unfortunately, records from these manufactures don't exist, so it is impossible to identify them further. Over 5000 different 'brands' have been identified, manufactured by 15 or so companies. Often they were given American sounding names to appeal to the overseas market. Indeed many of these machines are practically indistinguishable from a Singer and use parts that are interchangeable. The most common of these were based on the Singer Model 15 but there are also Singer 99 clones. There are always participants who will help you find the information you need about the sewing machine.Shortly after W.W.II, Japan, with money from the United States, manufactured a large number of sewing machines. Search for your sewing machine on either one of these sites and ask any relevant questions about the model. The two most popular boards to visit are and. Tip #5: When you’ve discovered your vintage sewing machine isn’t anywhere online, hit the forums. These sellers are not always knowledgeable about the sewing machine they are selling. Tip #4: When the door is closed to Wikipedia, open eBay.ĮBay has lots of sellers looking to get rid of vintage sewing machines. This doesn’t always work because the resources aren’t always available. A few times, I have gotten lucky and found relevant information about my specific sewing machine. Then, scroll down to the references section to find books about sewing machines made by the brand. Search Wikipedia for information on the brand in question. If you can’t find information here, as I wasn’t able to find information on White 477, your next best bet is to try… They don’t display all the information in the world, but it’s a great starting place. ISMACS is one of the most popular places to find information on sewing machines. Tip #2: Try ISMACS for relevant information on your sewing machine. At the same time, these bloggers don’t show up on the first few pages of google due to their low-ranking websites. Bloggers often give details about rare finds. At times, you can get lucky and find a website with great information. If you find any matches, click them and see what websites they lead to. Before giving up on google, click the images tab to find any sewing machines that match yours.

Atlas deluxe sewing machine model 6a